These Little Wonders

It had been a month.

The longest month of Brendon's life.

With the album consuming so much of his suddenly valuable time, Brendon found it a miracle he could escape from tour long enough to go home, to Felix.

After his fateful trip to Chicago and his run in with Felix's mysterious brother, no longer such a mystery, he had thought of nothing but the girl in Las Vegas he had screwed up with.

The cab he had jumped in upon sight didn’t seem to move fast enough past the familiar scene of Las Vegas that began blurring into lights and colors and nothing more.

As they drew closer to home he began seeing them again, not for what they really were but for what had happened there.

Brief slips of memories went through his head, giving Felix piggy back rides down the streets, letting her dance with him in the rain, memories of him and her with constant smiles.

Now those smiles had vanished and all Brendon hoped for was to see a trace of happiness in Felix's eyes once more.

That would've been the best thing in the world, though all he prayed for now was that he had been right telling Louis she was strong, and that she was still there in some way for when he returned.

Before he even realized it the cab had pulled up in front of her house, the only place he wanted to be.

Brendon handed the driver what looked like enough money along with a tip and got out of the car, almost forgetting to grab his bags he was so focused on the house in front of him.

The lights were on, the lawn had been tended to, and it looked like it had been repainted, so perhaps, Brendon hoped, Felix was doing well.

As he walked up the sidewalk his heart thudded moistly in his ears, reverberating through every bone and cell in his being.

He knocked on the door once, then twice, finally chancing a third knock and waited.

A few moments later the sound of padding footsteps echoed through the other side of the door and it swung open to reveal... Louis.

“Brendon? What are you doing here?” He asked, opening the door wider for him to come in.

Brendon did such and replied with equal curiosity. “I’d be asking you the same thing.”

Louis mustered something of a half smile. “After we talked in Chicago I decided I needed to come back. What about you?”

“I came back for Felix.” Was Brendon’s simple reply that spoke volumes.

Louis looked away briefly, the air around him becoming suddenly tense.

“Where is she?”

A sigh escaped his lips and he turned to Brendon.

“Brendon you need to know something... when I got here she was a mess. I’ve spent all my time fixing things and fixing her.”

Biting his lip, Brendon took a deep breath and looked Louis levelly in the eyes.

“Where is she?”

~\\~//~

Brendon found himself walking a path he hadn’t taken in many years, not since his mother’s aunt’s second cousin’s something had died.

The cemetery hadn’t changed much, only adding to the age and its haunted look with the passing of time.

But one thing stood out between the shades of gray, and it was the small girl sitting nonchalantly on a grave stone.

Without Louis’s directions Brendon may have never realized this small nondescript girl was his Felix.

In the passing time of a month she had faded, the color lost from her cheeks and eyes, and most notably her hair which now settled around her shoulders in a limp brown that hardly would’ve set her apart from the scenery.

As Brendon approached he noted her red kite lying motionless on the ground, symbolic of more things than just the lack of wind.

It took a few more silent steps for him to realize she was talking.

“It’s getting harder mom, I feel like there’s a part of me that’s flown away. I mean it’s great Louis is home... but it’s not the same, there’s still a part of me missing.”

Brendon’s heart, once beating like helicopter blades, fell as silent as the lifeless ones around him.

Hearing her voice once more, though sent a shiver up his spine, ached a part of him he had forgotten about.

She was hurting, in pain, and he knew it was his fault.

“I feel dead inside mom, though I guess you’d know all about that.” Felix laughed without heart. “I feel guilty for being like this around Louis, but it’s not exactly something I can turn on and off.”

Felix still hadn’t noticed he was there, and for that he was grateful as she turned toward the grave next to her.

“I understand now dad, why you left us after mom did. I can’t say I didn’t think about doing the same, but I know you would’ve told me to hold on, have hope... so here I am.”

Brendon couldn’t take hearing anymore from the shadows, and instead walked out, hands buried in the pockets of his hoodie.

“Felix.”

She looked up, a blur from one position to the next, but there was no mistaking the emotions in her eyes, shifting from shock, confusion, hurt, longing, and a mix back through them.

They stood apart for what felt like an eternity till Brendon chanced the few steps forward that brought them closer then they had been in a month.

Silence fell over them once more, both of them dreaming about this moment for so long they hadn’t thought past the initial meeting.

Felix was the brave one.

“I hope it’s not too late to tell you I love you.” She murmured, staring down at her hands, turning red in the cold.

Brendon pulled the gloves he had stashed earlier in his pocket out and took her hand gently in his, putting in the little effort it took to slide it finger by finger over her hand.

Felix watched him out of a curiosity that extended to her hand once he had given it back and she stared at it with unquestionable interest.

Meanwhile Brendon had taken her other hand and took his time in slipping the glove over her hand, letting the warm of his fingers trace over the ice of her own.

Neither of them spoke, saying their apologies and pleas with their movements, the tenderness of Brendon's touch and the subtle way Felix had begun leaning toward him.

The silent eyes of stone angels and forgotten loved ones did nothing to deter them from their silent reunion.

Though they never kissed, the small moments of contact they shared as they looked into each others eyes was more intimate and passionate than they had ever been.

"I love you Felix." Brendon whispered, his hand tracing along her cold jaw, warming as her blood rushed to her cheeks.

She caught the double edge of his words, her heart fluttering like the butterflies she so often dreamed of.

"Can we go home Brendon?"

The boy laced his hand in her suddenly warm one and nodded.

As they walked away from the stones of the forgotten the scene panned away from them and to the next morning where their lives began where they left off.

In the light of dawn, the room glowed with a pink gold haze, touching everything in the room into something magical.

But in the cold morning the only magic Brendon saw was the girl curled up against his chest.

Felix lay in Brendon’s arms, feeling for the first time she didn’t need the novelties of her past life to get her through the day, because she had Brendon.

They had each other now, and they had their lives, now rebuilt around each other in happiness.

With these thoughts Felix turned over to Brendon, caught for a moment in his eyes, glowing in the morning light.

As Brendon leaned down and kissed her, he knew all those times he had woken up alone were worth it, because it made him realize the blessing in having Felix with him.

In the same way Brendon thought he was the luckiest person in the world, Felix thought the same of herself.

There Brendon and Felix lay, the happiest people in the world, completely lost in each other and lost in love.

And in the corner leaned a red diamond kite, the few pieces of plastic and fabric that watched on as the catalyst of their love.